# @science on Instagram - **Type:** Image - **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DRv6EEaDhX3 - **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/37551837-science-instagram - **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/5d81a352c2.jpg - **Posted:** 2025-12-02T05:00:14.000+00:00 - **Account Owner:** Science šŸ§¬ (@science) ā€” https://gondola.cc/science ## Caption The human desire for companionship may feel boundless, but research suggests that our social capital is finiteā€”we can handle only so many relationships at one time. Social scientists have used several ingenious approaches to gauge the size of peopleā€™s social networks; these have returned estimates ranging from about 250 to about 5,500 people. Looking more specifically at friendship, a study that used the exchange of Christmas cards as a proxy for closeness put the average personā€™s friend group at about 121 people.ā  ā  However vast our networks may be, our inner circle tends to be much smaller. The average American trusts only 10 to 20 people. Moreover, that number may be shrinking: From 1985 to 2004, the average number of confidants that people reported having decreased from three to two. This is both sad and consequential because people who have strong social relationships tend to live longer than those who donā€™t.ā  ā  _____ā  ā  So what should you do if your social life is lacking? Here, too, the research is instructive. To begin with, donā€™t dismiss the humble acquaintance. Even interacting with people with whom one has weak social ties has a meaningful influence on well-being. Beyond that, building deeper friendships may be largely a matter of putting in the time. A recent study out of the University of Kansas found that it takes about 50 hours of socializing to go from acquaintance to casual friend, an additional 40 hours to become a ā€œrealā€ friend, and a total of 200 hours to become a close friend.ā  ā  If that sounds like too much effort, reviving dormant social ties can be especially rewarding. Reconnected friends can quickly recapture much of the trust they previously built while offering each other a dash of novelty drawn from whatever theyā€™ve been up to in the meantime. And if all else fails, you could start randomly confiding in people you donā€™t know that well in hopes of letting the tail wag the relational dog. Self-disclosure makes us more likable, and as a bonus, we are more inclined to like those to whom we have bared our souls.ā  ā  ā  ā  #sciencefacts #biologyfacts #science #biology #friends #bestfriends ## Stats - **Views:** 0 - **Likes:** 2,173 - **Shares:** 0 - **Comments:** 18 ## Tags science, sciencefacts, biologyfacts, biology, bestfriends, friends --- Copyright (c) Gondola